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IN THIS ISSUE
- Program Updates
- Upcoming events
- Community Announcements
- Spotlight: NC Choices
- Resources + Opportunities
- Job Opportunities
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Left: Finnsheep at Finca la Abundancia in Western NY | |
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Local Meat Processing Support Program Winter-Spring Workshop Series Begins January 2025
BAV’s Local Meat Processing Support Program is proud to present workshops for livestock farmers in Winter-Spring 2025, thanks to support from Extension Risk Management Education. There is no cost to participate. Workshop topics:
Meat Marketing Workshop Series - January 13-15 - view flyer
Meat Costing and Pricing - February 10
Meat Literacy Workshop Series - March 6, 13, 20
Live Animal Carcass Evaluation - April 28 & May 5
For details and to register, email Jake Levin at jake@berkshireagriculturalventures.org.
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Value Added Production Expansion Project in its Final Phase
Our Value Added Production Expansion project is now in the final phase, which involves providing technical assistance to a few individual value added producers and processors to support them to increase their processing capacity. We are working with Letterbox Farm, Jacuterie, Reed Farm, and Stillman Quality Meats. Read the Executive Report.
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Community Announcements
VT Packinghouse in North Springfield, VT is looking to get more processing dates booked with small farms.
Contact the free AskHACCP Hotline with your questions about food safety & compliance.
M-F10am-4pm
Call 845-481-0820, email info@agriforaging.com, or
book an appointment here
Jade Craven of Cat’s View Farm in Germantown NY offers soap making services and is looking for more clients. Jade will take your product (tallow, lard, botanicals) and add it to soap that you can sell direct to consumer. If you have something and want to know if she can incorporate it it into soap send her an email. jade@catsviewfarm.com.
| Above: Meat Marketing Workshops flyer - click to enlarge | | |
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NC Choices is a potent and small team that promotes sustainable food systems by supporting the pasture-based meat supply chain in North Carolina. Sarah Blacklin, and Lee Menius at the Center for Environmental Farming Systems at NC State University, are joined by their steadfast collaborator, Matt LeRoux from Cornell University, along with many others. Through information, educational programming, technical assistance, and networking opportunities, they make a big impact on the local, niche meat production and processing community in North Carolina.
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“ [Our work] is all about creating
opportunities for farms to remain viable and supporting all the businesses that help that environment”
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Sarah and Lee’s stories root back to different life stories, making them a dynamic team. | |
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Lee Menius grew up on a farm and got an Animal Science degree at NC State which led him to work in Cooperative Extension. From running his own farm to opening a butcher shop, his background brought him to serve as NC Choices Technical Specialist. He’s played a key role in promoting small-scale local meat production and educating agriculture service providers to support farmers and processors.
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“We’re always trying to be nimble enough so we can keep jumping to the part of the supply chain that needs the most support. We want to keep jumping to the next thing and keep one step ahead.” | | |
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Sarah Blacklin got into meat supply chain support work via direct marketing, and fisheries and vegetable production work. She has a degree from UNC Carolina, and went on to manage farmers markets. Her curiosity about the conundrum of meat sales, logistics and supply chain issues drew her to NC Choices first as a volunteer, and now as Program Director.
| “Our job is basically to grease a supply chain that is very small scale, very mom and pop. We make sure everybody’s talking with each other, working with each other, and have the tools and resources to make money at the end of the day - and doing it in a way that has good outcomes for the environment and animal welfare.” | |
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NC Choices responds to the ever-evolving needs of the meat supply chain. Their work has ranged from training extension agents to providing direct support to farmers and processors, to connecting producers with buyers.
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"This work keeps us on our toes and keeps us working with a diverse group of colleagues around the country.” | |
In large part because of their success implementing MeatSuite, NC Choices was invited by the Department of Agriculture to help design the Increasing Meat Processing Efficiency & Capacity program, influencing over 40 million dollars of funding. Sarah and Lee went on to support processors to win and implement that funding, working alongside the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and others to increase North Carolina’s meat processing capacity 40% over two years. | |
When I asked them to share a highlight of their work, they both immediately lit up about their genuine friendships with each other and their collaborators. Lee says “It’s not often you end up with coworkers that you’re texting pictures of stuff on grills and fishing reports and pictures of kids playing in mountain streams all weekend long. It’s literally a 24/7 friendship that we have. The people you work with really make it.” | |
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AskHACCP Hotline
Your Trusted Partner in Food Safety & Compliance
The AskHACCP Hotline is your free, confidential go-to resource for navigating food safety and compliance in the meat and poultry industry. Whether you’re a farmer, butcher, chef, processor, or plant operator, we’re here to help with expert answers to your toughest questions.
Our specialties include:
- HACCP plan development and troubleshooting
- USDA FSIS and state compliance guidance
- Slaughterhouse design and operational guidance
- State and Federal inspection requirements
- Ready-to-eat (RTE) and smokehouse operations
- Labeling, sanitation, and process-specific advice
- Resource navigation tailored to your needs
This hotline is built for you—dedicated professionals committed to quality and safety. Got a pressing question or a sticky compliance issue? We’ve got the expertise to guide you.
Let’s solve food safety challenges together.
Contact us today by:
We’re available Monday to Friday, 10 AM to 4 PM EST.
Clear answers. Real solutions. Let’s tackle food safety together!
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NY Farmland Finder
Helps farmers seeking land and landowners who want to keep their land in farming.
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Wool Calculator
Estimates the value of wool in both clean and greasy terms, and potential value if genetics or management practices changed.
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Livestock Farming Resource Directory
Details processors, feed sources, livestock healthcare providers, regional transportation, cold storage, sales options, and other information of significance to livestock farmers in the region.
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Job Opportunities
ANIMAL SYSTEMS MANAGER A Meaningful Purpose at Reed's Farm | Egg Harbor Township, NJ
Full time $50,000-75,000
HERDPERSON/MILKER Echo Farm | Essex, NY
Full time $15-20/hr
DAIRY AND LIVESTOCK ASSISTANT Old Ford Farm | New Paltz, NY
Full time $21/hr
ASSISTANT FARM MANAGER The Hotchkiss School | Lakeville, CT
Full time $20+/hr
FARM MANAGER Craigardan | Elizabethtown, NY
Full time $45-50,000
LIVESTOCK APPRENTICE Glynwood Center | Cold Spring, NY
Full time $15.50/hr plus housing, education, and other benefits
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Berkshire Agricultural Ventures acknowledges that we live and work on the unceded land of the Mohican, Munsee Lenape, and other Indigenous peoples. We recognize that the United States was built on stolen land and that all systems in this country are built on the stolen labor of Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, and other people of color.
You can read BAV's full statement on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging here.
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